Rescuers found a missing Russian tourist alive on Friday, a
month after he disappeared with five companions on a canoeing trip
in northwest China.
The man, identified as Alexander Zverev, was walking along the
upper reaches of a section of the Yurungkax River, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region when Chinese
and Russian rescuers spotted him from the air.
A rescue helicopter picked him up at about 10:00 a.m. and
transported him to nearby Hotan city.
Zverev, 35, had no belongings with him and his shoes were worn
out, said Li Yongjun, a Chinese helicopter pilot in charge of the
rescue operation.
"He kept walking back and forth on the aircraft and trying to
talk. He appeared exhausted, but very excited," said Li.
Arriving at Hotan airport at 11:40 a.m., Zverev stepped down
from the helicopter and hugged Russian rescuers.
The first survivor of the party found since the search was
launched early this month, is under close observation in Hotan
People's Hospital.
"It is a miracle that Zverev managed to survive in an
uninhabited mountainous area at an elevation of 4,000 meters," said
Zhang Shaoyun, deputy chief of the local rescue headquarters.
A group of six Russians arrived at the upper reaches of the
Yurungkax River on Kunlun Mountain of western Xinjiang on Aug. 19
and planned to begin a rafting trip two days later. However, they
failed to meet their Chinese interpreter in the southern city of
Hotan on Sep. 2 as scheduled.
The bodies of three Russians, including a father and son, have
been recovered. Medical experts said they had fallen into the river
and drowned.
Rescuers are still searching for the two missing, identified as
Andrey Pautov and Dmitry Tishchenko, particulaly around the area
where Zverev was found according to clues he provided.
The search was suspended earlier this week due to persistent
sandstorms.
Rescuers are now relying more on helicopters than ground
searches.
Xinhua reporters are seeking approval from local authorities and
the hospital to interview Zverev.
(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2007)
